Arts & Entertainment

LA Kings celebrate title with downtown parade

Anze Kopitar holds up the Stanley Cup while parading down Figueroa Street during a celebration for the Kings after beating the New York Rangers for the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Alfonso Gomez of Venice, center, riles up fans waiting outside Staples Center for the LA Kings to parade down Figueroa Street and bring the Stanely Cup home. Watching the Kings come back from behind in the playoffs to win the Stanley Cup inspires Gomez to persevere in the face of adversity, he said.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Kent Bentley of Oshawa in Ontario, Canada, flew to LA the night before the Kings parade to celebrate with his team in downtown.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Jakob Herrera, 6, waits for the LA Kings to come down the parade route during the celebration for beating the New York Rangers to bring home the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Superfan Garret Lawrence of Tehachapi, right, cheers with other fans as they await the beginning of the LA Kings parade to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti cheers with fans as they await the Kings to enter the Staples Center to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
LA Kings cheerleaders join the parade down Figueroa Street to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Fans react to watching a replay of the winning goal against the New York Rangers while waiting for the Kings Stanley Cup celebration ceremony inside the Staples Center.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Maggie Camorlinga, 7, holds up a puck as she waits for the LA Kings parade to begin along Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
LA Kings players parade down Figueroa Street to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
A fan waves a LA Kings flag as people line up to watch the parade down Figueroa Street in downtown.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Fans wait outside of the Staples Center during the LA Kings parade down Figueroa Street to celebrate bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Sydney Spielman, 11, finds a seat while waiting for the LA Kings Stanley Cup parade to begin along Figueroa Street in downtown.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Fans take to the streets and trees during the LA Kings to parade down Figueroa Street to celebrate bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Crosby Dean, 3, of Ventura waits among fans for the LA Kings to parade down Figueroa Street after bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC
Fans cheer the LA Kings as they parade down Figueroa Street to celebrate bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC

The Los Angeles Kings and their fans celebrated their Stanley Cup championship with a parade and rally Monday in downtown Los Angeles.

The parade down Figueroa Street is a simple affair: a few double decker buses and big flatbed trucks carrying the triumphant Kings, their families and local dignitaries.

The crowd was large and loud, but not too rowdy…almost as if having witnessed a similar parade 2 years ago gave it some experience. Still, seeing the 3-foot tall silver Stanley Cup trophy hoisted overhead on the back of a big truck was magic.

“I’ve been a King fan for 38 years,” said Manny Maldonado of Lancaster. He’d risen 4:30 a.m. to drive his family to a Metrolink station for the trip.

Maldonado was at the Forum in 1982 when the Kings pulled off what’s called the “miracle on Manchester”, winning a playoff game against the Wayne Gretzsky-led Edmonton Oilers after being down 5-0 zero in the third period.

“You got your loyal fans and you got your bandwagon fans, but that’s ok,” Maldonado said. “We’ll take that. We will take that.”

Karen Shanbrom of Eagle Rock said she’s not a bandwagon fan… just a new one. She was somewhat indifferent to hockey until a friend took her to a Kings match last season.

“ You can almost still see the teeth marks. I got bit by the Kings bug. “ Shanbrom said.

She went to more matches, including the playoffs, bought “millions” of Kings t-shirts and decorated her car. This year, she said, the playoffs were like an addiction:

“I got so excited I couldn’t breathe. Before the games were starting, I could think of nothing,” Shanbrom said, donning a Jonathan Quick t-shirt. “My work suffered. My life suffered. Everything… I kept thinking, ‘I can’t wait until we win the Cup so I can get my life back.”

The Kings and the National Hockey League will be happy to know that Shanbrom’s already put down a deposit for a 10-pack of Kings games next season and hopes to be able to afford to increase that to a half-season package.

See the parade route in gray on the map below, and additional street closures in red: